Known connectors and, in particular, vehicle connectors, perform a secondary locking function when a terminal position assurance article (a “TPA article”) is inserted into a housing.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, respectively, show a structural schematic view of a known connector before and after assembly. Such known connectors generally include a housing 100′ and a TPA article 200′. The housing 100′ includes a body 101′ and at least one terminal receiving inner passageway 102′. Each terminal receiving inner passageway 102′ has a head portion 103′ extending forward from a center of a front wall of the main body 101′ and out of the main body 101′, and a tail portion 104′ extending rearward into the main body 101′. Each terminal receiving inner passageway 102′ has a first horizontal elastic cantilever 105′ formed by extending vertically upward from a front end of an inner bottom surface 108′ and then extending backwardly horizontally. A locking slot 109′ is formed between the first horizontal elastic cantilever 105′ and the inner bottom surface 108′.
The TPA article 200′ includes a locking plate 201′ that can be inserted into the locking slot 109′ and a front end of the locking plate 201′ is directly lapped on the inner bottom surface 108′ of the terminal receiving inner passageway 102′. Before assembly (when the TPA article is at a pre-locked position), the locking plate 201′ is not inserted into the locking slot 109′ and a rear end of the TPA article 200′ is exposed out of the housing 100′. However, after assembly (when the TPA article is at a locked position), the locking plate 201′ is inserted into the locking slot 109′ and the TPA article 200′ is entirely received in the housing 100′. Since the rear end of the TPA article 200′ needs to be exposed out of the housing 100′ before assembly, the locking plate 201′ is easily pressed by an external force to cause a mistaken insertion into the locking slot 109′ and thus causing a failure of the connector. Therefore, such connectors cannot be pressed against one another upon packaging and a tray is needed to be used to package the connectors before assembly such that the packaging cost is higher and a greater requirement is imposed for the packaging space.